MESSAGE #754 SUPER POWERS…

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“We have what we seek. It is there all the time, and if we give it time it will make itself known to us.”
-THOMAS MERTON

Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Michael Eng.

Yesterday I set a record. I took three yoga classes in one day. It was amazing. I started off with a mixed yoga class at Yogaphoria in New Hope, PA with Sue Elkind. It was great! A perfect blend of philosophy, strength training, flexibility, spirituality and fun.

Then, I took a hatha yoga class with Senthil Kumar at CanDo Fitness Club, which was also wonderful. During that class I felt some tingly sensations going through my body, which I have read about – it’s called prana.

I ended my day with a kundalini yoga class with Vanessa Kudrat. Something amazing happened during this class. I started to feel the prana again, but this time it started to get more and more intense. My arms were literally vibrating with energy, so much that I felt that I had super-powers and could move things without touching them. I actually tried to move someones water bottle, but didn’t. It was such an amazing feeling. I’ve never felt that before.

It’s inside all of us. But somewhere along the line, we have lost touch with nature and our true selves. We are numbed by TV, iPods, the news, video games and other external factors. We search outside of ourselves for happiness, but the wise ones know that true happiness lies within. Senthil said that wherever there is a lot of entertainment, there is people that are lost. We need to find ourselves again.

This awareness helps us perform at a higher level in sports and all areas of life.

We don’t know what we are capable of.

And we will never know unless we start to do different things. Unless we get out of our normal, mindless routines and get in touch with our true selves again.

Take a couple of deep breaths. In through the nose for four seconds and out through the nose for four seconds.

Do this for as long as you want. Focus on deep breaths from the stomach. Thoughts may pop up, that’s okay, just accept them and go back to your breath. Continue.

This inner peace will give you better mental clarity, reduce stress and give you a calm energy throughout your day. And it is the first step in getting closer to your true self.


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #753 A STORY…

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“Basketball is an endurance sport, and you have to learn to control your breath; that’s the essence of yoga, too. So, I consciously began using yoga techniques in my practice and playing. I think yoga helped reduce the number and severity of injuries I suffered. As preventative medicine, it’s unequaled.” ~KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR, highest scorer in NBA history

As you know, I have been really into yoga lately.

But it’s not just a trend. It’s here to stay.

Yoga has helped me:
Get leaner
Get stronger
Have greater mental clarity/focus
Have better posture
Prevent injuries
Relax at will
Make better nutritional choices
Become happier
Become more mindful
Play better tennis
Feel younger
Feel more confident

Read the quote above from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar again. This applies to tennis too. If yoga can help the highest scorer in NBA history, imagine what it can do for you?

I have been fortunate to talk to and become friends with some of my yoga instructors. They all have great knowledge and I have learned from each of them.

Recently, I met with the great Senthil Kumar.

Senthil has only been in the US for three years. He is from India, the birthplace of yoga. When Senthil was young, his schooling stopped at the 10th grade. He went to work for his relative’s company as a goldsmith. He worked from 6am-1am every day. This went on for a while. With several workers under him, and making decent money, Senthil seemed to be doing well. But he wasn’t satisfied. He was constantly under stress and growing tired.

One day, Senthil left home without telling anyone. He told his workers to leave and never come back. He decided to go to the mountains and become a monk. So he lived in the mountains with the monks and all food and sleeping arrangements were taken care of, as they volunteered during the day. This was a nice change, but soon became boring to Senthil. There must be more to life than this, he thought. He realized his mistake of leaving all of his problems.

So Senthil went back home. Soon after he arrived, his father passed away. This was a great shock to him. His whole world came crashing down. After things settled, Senthil decided to study yoga. He quickly found that this was life-changing and wanted to share it with others. So he began conducting yoga classes for free. He would even give private sessions to those interested, as long as money was never mentioned.

Senthil met his current wife in India. They moved to the United States three years ago. In his classes, Senthil doesn’t use the words, “downward-facing dog” or “namaste.” He uses the traditional names for the asanas – I like that. The music he uses is meditation-like and his style of teaching focuses on the inner as much as the outer.

Yoga helps shift the focus of the external search for happiness to where it lies, within. Yoga helps build strength, prevent injuries, create balance and give you focus. This combination of body, mind and spirit can benefit everyone. And the breathing – oh, the breathing. That’s the best part. The quality of your breath is in direct relation to the quality of your life. It is a natural anchor and brings you instantly to the present moment.

I have attended several 7am yoga classes with Senthil and the turn-out has not been great. I can’t think of a better way to start the day. I guess people are too busy for yoga.

If you’re too busy to become healthier, stronger, and happier…you’re too busy.


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #752 THE FASTEST HORSE DOESN’T ALWAYS WIN THE RACE…

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Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Thanusha Puvananayagam.

Does the fastest horse always win the race?

Of course not.

Does the better player always win the match?

No.

Look at Tiger Woods and Y.E. Yang at the PGA. Y.E. Yang beat the great Tiger Woods. In fact, he was the first Asian to win a major.

“Consider this: Yang started the day as a 20-1 underdog, according to an online sports wagering site. Woods was a 2-9 favorite, roughly the same as Secretariat in his prime against your pet cocker spaniel.

‘You never know in life,’ Yang said through his interpreter, Ryan Park.” (LA Times)

What happened?

Yang played great and Tiger didn’t. Sometimes that happens.

So what does this mean for you?

Don’t give up. Believe that anything is possible. Don’t worry about rankings, they don’t matter.

On any given day, the player that plays better wins.

Bottom line.

You’ve gotta have HOPE. (Hold On Possibilities Exist)


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #751 JUST IN…FROM 1959

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Today’s message is especially dedicated to Lisa Steenstra, Kerry Gallagher and Danielle Weiss.

The great Rob Gilbert, Ph.D., is one of the world’s top sports psychologists and motivational speakers. He is also a good friend and mentor.

If you walk in to Dr. Gilbert’s house, you wouldn’t know if you were in his house or the library. He may have the biggest motivational library on the planet.

Well, last year, Dr. Gilbert left me a voicemail saying, “Ed, I have $10,000 worth of books and I’m getting rid of them – you have the first crack at them.”

So we met at his storage facility (yes, he has a separate storage facility for just books). I actually went three times, for an average of three hours each visit. I was only able to go through about 75% of them. He had books from the world of sports, music, business, academics – you name it. He had first editions signed by the authors. He had duplicate and triplicate of books. I walked away with probably 200 books.

This morning I was looking through my library and found something called, “Your Lifetime Memo Book” from April 1959. It is a small, thin book that was probably a free give-away from Waghorne-Brown Co., a warehouse at the time, in Merrimack, New Hampshire. This promotional book had a motivational quote for every day of the month.

Here’s one from Sunday, April 26, 1959…

“The muscles of an athlete atrophy when not used; the fingers of a violinist stiffen when not exercised, and the mind softens when it looks only at pictures.”
-BISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN

What a great quote, and so true.

You need to use what you have, or you will lose what you have.

Great quotes and great books from history are still around, like Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”

Why?

Because the principles still apply today.

You don’t need to figure everything out on your own.

Learn from the greats and do what they did.

Use it or lose it.

Do you have a favorite quote or book?

Leave your comments.


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #750 TEACHER IS STUDENT, STUDENT IS TEACHER

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“Though he acts as a teacher, within himself, he should be a learner.”
-B.K.S. Iyengar

Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great B.K.S. Iyengar in Prune, India.

I’m a tennis teacher. I’m also a tennis learner.

Yes, I teach tennis – the strokes, strategy, preparation, character, fitness, nutrition and mental training.

But it goes deeper than that.

My students learn from me, but I also learn from my students. On a daily basis.

I believe that part of teaching is learning and re-learning.

The last thing I want to do is be on automatic. I don’t want to be a parrot. Every student has different needs and challenges, therefore, I learn from them – I learn new ways to teach. This also helps me customize the lesson for my student. It’s like playing a match – sometimes you have to make adjustments. Conditions will never be exactly the same, so why do we act like they are?

“There are many unknown things to be known.”

I even look at my opponent as a teacher. They are attacking my weaknesses in order to win a point, so they are teaching me how to improve. I, on the other hand, am doing the same to them.

In the past, I used to think of my opponent as the enemy. Someone I wanted to beat. But once I realized that there was another way to look at it, my game changed. I thought of my opponent as a teacher and student. I started to relax. I started to play to my potential. And I started to really have fun. The result was no longer an issue. It was all about the present moment.

This may be strange or a paradigm shift for you, but try to think about this for the rest of your day. Think about how you are a teacher and how you are a student. In the end, we are really all the same.


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #749 ACTION!

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“You will get no more out of life than you put into it.”

Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Ruben Ganesh.

Three frogs are sitting on a log.

Two of them decide to jump off.

How many frogs are left?

Answer: Three.

Just because the frogs decided to jump off, doesn’t mean they did.

What are you deciding to do, but not doing?

“Oh, I’ve decided to go on a diet.”

“I’m going to practice five days a week.”

Talking isn’t good enough. We need to take action.

Last night I attended a Princeton tweetup meeting at Salt Creek Grill, organized by Hilary Morris. It was a networking event for local business professionals that use Twitter.

I walked away with a pocket-full of business cards. I’m sure most people walked away with even more, but I already knew some of the attendees.

But here’s the point…

When people attend networking events, they accumulate business cards and that’s pretty much where it ends.

People are satisfied with just getting and giving cards.

Most people that buy a book don’t read past the first chapter.

We tend to relax and think that we’re done after that first step.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

We will see how many emails I get from people I met last night. I have a feeling I won’t get many. I’ve attended dozens of networking events and it is rare that people follow up. You can be sure that I will be sending out personal emails to each and every new person I met last night.

It’s not about trying your best – Do whatever it takes.

I don’t care what you tell me you’re going to do, I only care about what you do.

The great Angie Holmberg in Oklahoma was feeling bad about her tennis game yesterday. She read my blog and saw that it was dedicated to her. She didn’t care.

But then she thought to herself, “Why not? You have to think great before you are great.”

Well guess what?

That changed her whole attitude.

She said, “I took that attitude to my practice this evening and it was a very fun and productive time on the court!”

Confidence is not a feeling, it’s an action.

Do it today. Tell me about it tomorrow.


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #748 WE NEED GOALS…

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Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Tina Odisho in Elizabeth, NJ.

In my book, “Game. Set. Life.” I wrote how only about 3% of people have goals. Those are all the successful people in the world.

Imagine this scenario…

You’re getting ready to play a game of soccer. Then, all of a sudden, they remove the goals and the referees say, “Play ball!”

What do you do? Maybe kick the ball around a bit? After a short period of time, you would get bored, wouldn’t you? You wouldn’t get anywhere. You’d be running around in circles. You might give up.

Life is the same way – are you just going through the motions? Just kicking the ball around? Goals will give you a purpose; they will keep you motivated.

Figure out what you truly want to accomplish in this world – what you want to leave behind.

Be specific.

Take action.

Start today.



Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #747 IN-MIND BANKING…

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Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Mike Deblase. Happy Birthday to a true peak performer!

“I use all the brains I have, and all that I can borrow.”
-WOODROW WILSON

I love learning.

I make time to read every day. I love learning from others. Here’s something I just read at 5:19AM…

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready. As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window. ‘I love it,’ he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

‘Mr. Jones, you haven’t seen the room; just wait.’

‘That doesn’t have anything to do with it,’ he replied.

‘Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged .. it’s how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. ‘It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.’

Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away. Just for this time in my life.

Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you’ve put in.

So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!

Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

Have a nice day, unless you already have other plans.

(Thank you, Paul Cannon)

How can you apply this today to sports, sales, or school?


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #746 A BITTERSWEET DAY…

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“Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”-SPECIAL OLYMPICS MOTTO

Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Angie Holmberg in Edmond, Oklahoma.

It is a bittersweet day for me. Eunice Kennedy Shriver has just passed away. She was the sister of John F. Kennedy, but more importantly, she was the founder of the Special Olympics.

“She started the Special Olympics Games in 1968 to foster fitness and self-esteem for those with mental retardation. Her concern for the mentally handicapped was attributed to her relationship with older sister Rosemary, who was said to have been mildly retarded and spent the majority of her life in long-time care facility after a lobotomy.

‘I had enormous affection for Rosie,’ Shriver said in a National Public Radio interview in 2007. ‘If I never met Rosemary, never known anything about handicapped children, how would I have ever found out? Because nobody accepted them anyplace.’ “
-Yahoo News

To this day I think that they still are not accepted.

I have been a volunteer tennis coach for the Special Olympics for almost ten years now and it has been one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done. One of my good friends, Brad Abouchedid, is a Special Olympics gold medalist. I have learned so much from Brad, and the other special athletes. Brad also wrote the forward of my book, “Game. Set. Life.”

I am one of their coaches, but I have learned more from them than they have from me.

They have unconditional love.
They give it their all.
They smile, even with a last-place finish.
They are polite.
They cheer each other on.
They inspire greatness.

Joey Clawson, another good friend of mine and Special Olympics gold medalist, played on the Ewing High (NJ) tennis team and was accepted to The College of New Jersey, a top school in the state.

If Joey can make the high school team and get accepted into a good college, with a mental disability, imagine what you can do?

Thank you, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, for showing me and millions of others what we all have inside.

Anything is possible – trust me, I’ve seen it.

Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #744 EXCUSE ME, DO YOU HAVE THE TIME?

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“Lost time is never found again.”
-BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Craig Brotman, racquet stringer for the pros, in Sarasota, Florida.

Have you ever noticed that the greatest athletes in the world are able to slow the game down to their speed? Don’t they make everything look effortless?

We all know that there are 24 hours in each day, but why do some people feel like there aren’t enough hours to get everything done? Why do some people always seem like they are in a rush?

Well, there are many reasons, but time really is subjective. Most of us don’t appreciate time. When we are experiencing something unpleasant or difficult, time seems to go by so slowly. But if we are having a blast, it flies by. But there is also something called, being in the now, where time seems to stand still.

I know in my own life, once I started having gratitude for all the big and little things in my life, time started slowing down. Once I started setting goals and making the best out of every day, my world changed. Time changed. Let me put it another way…

“If you had a bank that credited your account each morning with US currency in the amount of $86,400, and every evening cancelled whatever part of the amount you failed to use, what would you do? Of course, you would draw out every cent of the deposit!

Well, time is such a bank. Every morning it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off as lost whatever of those seconds you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries no balance forward to the next day. It allows no overdrafts. Each day it opens a new account with you. Each night it burns the record for the day.

If you fail to use the day’s deposit, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against tomorrow. You must live in the present – on today’s deposit. Invest it so as to get the most in health, happiness and service.”
-Source unknown

So what are you doing with your time? What are you going to do today?


Thanks for reading.